Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed

”Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” a 10-episode series on Apple TV created by David Rosen, is messy — the sloppy joe of streaming. And it is a lot of fun. The plot spills all over the side of the bun, into your lap and onto the floor. You’ll never enjoy cleaning up more.

The series initially presents itself as a dark comedy, but it quickly turns into a cat-and-mouse game with enough twists and turns to make the casual viewer dizzy — but hardly ever bored.

While Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed might not be the most enjoyment I’ve ever derived from a TV show, its addictive combination of light comedy, unpredictable twists and sharp character work — all anchored by Tatiana Maslany’s fearless-as-usual lead performance — add up to one hell of a good time.

Maslany is the dynamic center of a story that twists in unexpected directions, giving Paula enough intelligence, warmth, and edginess to make her character cohere. Around her, Rosen builds an ensemble out of well-matched duos, drawn in enough detail to give the series potential beyond its first season.

It’s a sure-footed and completely bingeable thriller with an edge of unpredictability that holds you doubly fast to your seat.

Tatiana Maslany is the acting superpower behind this terrific, twisty crime thriller comedy about parenthood and the freedom to be pervy.

Amateur sleuthing takes Paula to unexpected places, leading to a denouement that doesn’t entirely tie everything up but makes us crave a second season so we could spend more quality time with a flawed, likeable character you can’t help but fall in love with.

Apple TV's quirky thriller "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" taps into star Tatiana Maslany's considerable skills, expertly mixing laughs with heart-pounding twists.

The overall execution is solid (everything makes way more sense than recent “average folks do crime” shows like “Big Mistakes” and “Imperfect Women.”), the cast is charming (shout-out to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ son, Charlie Hall, for escaping Ryan Murphy-land), and the parallels between Paula’s experience and our own prove unmistakable, persuasive, and cathartic.

With an intensive story, an intriguing mystery at the heart of it, and a performance that reminds us of Maslany’s immense caliber of talent, the show solidifies itself as a must-watch.

The pieces of its puzzle—involving a single mom and a murder mystery that begins online—don’t all fit together perfectly, but it’s hard to care too much about an abundance of coincidences and lucky timing on a show this well-paced, wonderfully performed, and unpredictable.

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed seems more interested in the dramatic potential of intimate deceit. What is storytelling if not its own scam, its own manipulation of our confidences and expectations? In this case, the trick is an intriguing one, but you may have some doubts.

Tatiana Maslany is the best reason to watch “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” a new thriller premiering Wednesday on Apple TV, and since there is a lot of her in it, across 10 episodes, you can take that as a recommendation, of a sort.

Strong performances, particularly from Tatiana Maslany and a delightfully ominous Murray Bartlett, help assuage Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed's streaming bloat and handful of inauthentic impediments.